Ezekiel 19

1 And thou, take thou up a lamentation for the princes of Israel,

Take up now a song of grief for the ruler of Israel, and say,

2 and say, What was thy mother? A lioness: she lay down among lions, she nourished her whelps in the midst of the young lions.

What was your mother? Like a she-lion among lions, stretched out among the young lions she gave food to her little ones.

3 And she brought up one of her whelps; it became a young lion, and he learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

And one of her little ones came to growth under her care, and became a young lion, learning to go after beasts for his food; and he took men for his meat.

4 And the nations heard of him; he was taken in their pit, and they brought him with nose-rings into the land of Egypt.

And the nations had news of him; he was taken in the hole they had made: and, pulling him with hooks, they took him into the land of Egypt.

5 And when she saw that she had waited [and] her hope was lost, she took another of her whelps, [and] made him a young lion.

Now when she saw that her hope was made foolish and gone, she took another of her little ones and made him into a young lion.

6 And he went up and down among the lions; he became a young lion, and learned to catch the prey; he devoured men.

And he went up and down among the lions and became a young lion, learning to go after beasts for his food; and he took men for his meat.

7 And he knew their [desolate] palaces, and he laid waste their cities, so that the land was desolate, and all it contained, by the noise of his roaring.

And he sent destruction on their widows and made waste their towns; and the land and everything in it became waste because of the loud sound of his voice.

8 Then the nations set against him on every side from the provinces, and spread their net over him; he was taken in their pit.

Then the nations came against him from the kingdoms round about: their net was stretched over him and he was taken in the hole they had made.

9 And they put him in a cage with nose-rings, and brought him to the king of Babylon; they brought him into strongholds, that his voice should no more be heard upon the mountains of Israel.

They made him a prisoner with hooks, and took him to the king of Babylon; they put him in the strong place so that his voice might be sounding no longer on the mountains of Israel.

10 Thy mother was as a vine, in thy rest, planted by the waters: it was fruitful and full of branches by reason of many waters.

Your mother was in comparison like a vine, planted by the waters: she was fertile and full of branches because of the great waters.

11 And it had strong rods for sceptres of them that bear rule, and its stature was exalted between the thick boughs; and it was conspicuous by its height with the multitude of its branches.

And she had a strong rod for a rod of authority for the rulers, and it became tall among the clouds and it was seen lifted up among the number of its branches.

12 But it was plucked up in fury, it was cast down to the ground, and the east wind dried up its fruit; its strong rods were broken and withered; the fire consumed them.

But she was uprooted in burning wrath, and made low on the earth; the east wind came, drying her up, and her branches were broken off; her strong rod became dry, the fire made a meal of it.

13 And now it is planted in the wilderness, in a dry and thirsty ground:

And now she is planted in the waste land, in a dry and unwatered country.

14 and a fire is gone out of a rod of its branches, [which] hath devoured its fruit; so that it hath no strong rod to be a sceptre for ruling. This is a lamentation, and shall be for a lamentation.

And fire has gone out from her rod, causing the destruction of her branches, so that there is no strong rod in her to be the ruler's rod of authority. This is a song of grief, and it was for a song of grief.